An older model flag

Following the discussions we had about Austrian standards at TMP, I decided to follow a similar solution to an otherwise bland collection by letting my Pallavicini retain their older style flags of the 1740 period. As mentioned in Duffy’s book, The Army of Maria Theresa, prior to the changes, the fields were coloured uniformly within the regiment, whether yellow, green, red, or red-white-red. After the Succession war, many of the flags would be replaced as a consequence of the newer edicts with the well known yellow field with double headed eagle. I would like to think my regiment retained theirs.

For the older model, a fine illustration of the varied colours can be seen in the painting by Carl Rochling, the Battle of Hohenfriedberg, June 4, 1745.

Battle of Hohenfriedberg, Carl Rochling


cheers,

The Llaneros

The irregular cavalry known as Llaneros are done and I thought I would devote today’s posting around the “Mongols” of the Audencia of Caracas. The Llanos is the plains area of modern day Venezuela and comprises nearly half of the land mass. A tall wild grass grown in the area gives an impression of a green desert. Unfortunately, during the rainy season, the hard ground offers no way to absorb the water, the entire area is mostly flooded. A very hostile area that is home to a fierce and hard folk.

Living in the saddle like their Asian counterparts, they herded cattle from sparse pasture to pasture. Largely blacks (runaway slaves), Indian or mestizo they were subject to no one but their own leaders.
It was in the following century that one leader was able to weld the Llaneros into a fierce fighting force that consistently troubled Simon Bolivar’s campaign in Venezuela.

José Tomás Rodriguez Boves

José Tomás Rodriguez Boves knew how to harness their resentment of the “white man” and wield the savage Llaneros into an effective fighting force. His initial four thousand horsemen were designated the Legion of Hell (Legión infernal). Carrying a black flag or the pennant of death, the Llaneros loosed upon the enemies of Spain, massacring all they came up against. Using methods taken out of the pages of the Spanish Inquisition, they raised the level of atrocities that forced Simon Bolivar to use similar methods against Spanish forces.